


Unfair

by Innocenctcinnamonbun



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I dont know how to work AO3 Im sorry, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 10:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17201609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocenctcinnamonbun/pseuds/Innocenctcinnamonbun
Summary: Marie feels her very own soul get ripped out when she hears the news. The man she loved has been murdered. Wilting away in her own grief, her troubles grow as her partner and dear friend, Dr. Franken Stein, is accused of the killing. She knows he’s innocent, but he isn’t convinced. Together they flee to find the truth of Joe Buttataki’s untimely demise. And what they find is not the conclusion they thought they’d see.





	1. Break

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my entry for Resbang 2018 and is my hot dumpster fire of a fic. My lovely partner @sandmancircus is too good for me and you can find their art over here http://sandmancircus.tumblr.com/post/181497619108/happy-resbang-this-is-my-art-for-the-lovely
> 
> Have fun and thank you for reading the first fic I've written in over three years. (yay!)

Marie Mjolnir’s dream of marriage and raising kids had been an obsession of hers ever since she had been just a little girl. Experiencing her first wedding at the age of 5, she had remembered the ceremony vividly, as it had awed her little mind. The sun had poured through the stained glass of the old church, emitting beautiful rays of colors down upon the altar where her cousin had stood with his beloved soon-to-be husband. Hand in hand, they’d smiled with pure joy at each other as the vows were read. And when they’d kissed, Marie had felt a vibrant happiness and excitement as everyone cheered for the newly wedded couple. She’d thought to herself, then and there, how amazing it was to get married and have your life intertwined with that of your best friend. 

Ever since then, she’d had constant fantasies of her own perfect wedding with her own perfect dress and her own perfect cake. But most importantly, she’d had fantasies of the perfect partner that would top it all off. They would kiss. He would embrace her with a warm hug and a warm smile on his face every time he’d see her and she’d do the same. They’d have two beautiful kids that they would tuck in every night and say ‘We love you’ to.

She would always smile brightly at such a thought: to be a mom, to be a wife, to be in a family full of love and happiness. It was her dream, and even if it was a bit old fashioned, it brought her joy. 

But at the age of 32, she’d only been close to having it once. And that was with a man named Joe Buttataki. Marie still remembers the day she asked him out. It had been back when she was still in Oceania, new to the region, and new to her life as a death scythe. 

She’d been at a bar, more invested with the social side of things than the alcohol. Marie enjoyed the company of others, having nice conversations about a various sorts of topics. 

She’d recognized Joe sitting at the other end of the bar by himself. They had attended the same classes back in her academy days, but never really talked much. He seemed like a nice guy though, so she’d ordered him a drink, and had brought it over to him.

“My, my if it isn’t Joe Butataki in the flesh. It’s nice to see you again,” Joe looked up from his own empty glass to her and smiled at his old classmate.

“Well I’ll be damned, Marie the Pulveriser, how are you these days?” Marie gave Joe the alcoholic beverage she had at hand and took a seat on the bar stool right next to him.

“Pretty good actually,” And good it was, barely anything ever happened in Oceania. It was as if Marie was on a long vacation after working relentlessly during her grueling academy days. Joe smiled at her.

“That’s good, that’s good. Being a Death Scythe now must be a pretty nice job then, huh?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it nice but it is definitely ten times better than being an awkward teenager going through puberty.”

“The dark ages,” Marie snorted at Joe’s comment.

“Very much so.”

“I’ve got to say, going to that academy was a wild ride from start to finish,” Joe said. Marie nodded at him.

“It sure was,” Marie giggled to herself as memories of her peculiar schoolding days came flooding back to her.

“I remember one time during a mission, Stein and I were just about to wrap things up when Kami came frantically rushing over telling us she couldn’t find Spirit. Lo and behold we find him 15 minutes later stuck on top of a flag pole! He still won’t tell us how he even got up there to this day,” Joe’s snickers turned into full blown laughter as the story progressed and Marie felt a blush prick at her cheeks. It was a wonderful deep laugh that ringed in her ears.

“Spirit is a character unlike any other,” Joe managed to wheeze out.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Marie laughed. 

“Why did you come to Oceania, Bj?” Marie asked her old classmate. Last time she checked Bj lived in Nevada still, yet, here he was. Joe took a quick sip from his beverage and looked a little unsure of himself. Marie’s eyebrows scrunched up.

“I guess you could say I’m just trying to find a happier life,” he started. “As much as I may “enjoy” slaying kishin eggs, it’s just not the lifestyle I want. I really only want to live in peace if that's not already a fruitless dream for a man like me.” Marie felt a little tingle as she recognized the dream to be similar to her own. A simple life full of comfort and joy.

“Well you’ve come to the right place for that, it’s quite the quiet place this area is,” Marie played with her hair, sweeping it behind her. 

“It’s kind of funny for you to mention, but I also came to Oceania for a more down to Earth lifestyle. More than anything I just want to retire and be a stay-at-home mom.” Joe raised an eyebrow at this.

“Isn’t that a little old-fashioned?” 

“Maybe so, but it's what I want, a simple life with a simple family,” Joe stared at Marie for a bit who was looking down with a sad smile at the bar counter, then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll see that dream become a reality some day, I have no doubts,” Joe reassured. 

“I do hope so,” Marie said lifting her head up and to look at Joe.

“Another question but when exactly did you get here? From America I mean,” Marie asked. 

“I just arrived this morning, actually.” Joe responded. 

“Do you even have a place to stay tonight?” Marie questioned a bit nervously. Joe rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

“N-Not exactly…” Marie laughed as Joe’s blush deepened. 

“Why don’t you come stay at my place for the night?”

And before either of them knew it, they were sleeping in the same bed.

The next morning, Marie had woken up to the pleasant aroma of coffee. Joe had been sitting on the edge of her bed where she laid, two mugs of coffee in hand. With a sheepish smile he’d apologized for using the coffee machine without asking.

“-It was just you were sleeping so soundly and I didn’t want to-” But he was cut off by a very eager Marie.

“Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?” 

She’d suddenly blushed at the realization of what she had just said, and was about to apologize for interrupting him with such an abrupt question but-

“I’d love to.”

-he’d wholeheartedly agreed.

They had been happy together. Extremely happy. Marie had never had such a nurturing relationship in her life, and she’d wanted to keep it that way, constantly thought about the next phase. The thought of holding his hand at the altar had made her internally squeal in joy. But her little visions were crushed when he’d ended everything they had together.

She’d been heartbroken--extremely upset--over it. She’d cried, asking what was wrong with her? She’d wailed that she was willing to change for him, anything at all: she’d done it before with so many other men. But he’d stopped her, and had said that it wasn’t her. Instead, he thought she was a gift to this world. No, the problem was him, he’d admitted--he was afraid of things getting more involved than they were.

She didn’t remember much in her hysteria, but she did remember viciously blaming herself. Everyone she’d ever dated had always been the one to break up with her, not the other way around, saying she was a bit too clingy, a bit too pudgy, and a bit too eccentric for their taste. Sometimes she didn’t understand why she tried anymore. She was growing less appealing as she aged. No one wanted a woman with wrinkles carving her face and cellulite on her thighs.

She’d felt empty after the break up, carrying on with life like a puffy eyed zombie, but she eventually got over it, and had started to focus a little more on work rather than dating. She’d been scared of having her heart thrown away like that again.. 

 

But now, after years upon years, he was back in her life, and willing to start again. He’d asked her out to dinner, and she couldn’t help but say yes.

Marie wanted to find that deep love they once shared. The thought made her happy. She could have it all once again. All she ever wanted with him and more. A lasting relationship with the man she loved.

But how can she trust Joe? After leaving her out to dry just like he had before?

She’d been sitting in the nice restaurant by herself for thirty minutes, her wine half gone. Maybe he had chickened out again? It was a possibility, but he also could have just had something come up all of a sudden. And perhaps lost his phone as well. That would explain why she couldn’t reach him at all.

Once he did get here, though, she was gonna scold him for making her wait. Yeah, once he got here…

But the hands of the clock whirled as time passed by, and closing time came for the restaurant. 

She walked out with a somber feeling and a pressure in her head. He really had run away again… It was dumb of her to ever think they could have had something again. After all, she always drives her lovers away…

The buzzing of her phone ripped her out of her depressing thoughts. She felt a jolt of excitement, that quickly turned to an acute rage. She wasn’t gonna let Joe off the hook so easily. But when she grabbed her phone out of her purse, it wasn’t Joe. Instead the Caller ID read Spirit, and her face fell once more. 

He probably called to vent about another woman or Maka again. She thought about ignoring it but he was her friend, and talking things out usually helped. They could both exchange a few words on their problematic relationships. When she answered, however, she found herself immediately regretting it as she heard the sound of his voice. Breaking and somber. 

“Marie, I.. Uh….”

“What’s wrong, Spirit?”

He was silent for a moment. She heard a painful sigh.

“Bj… He’s… He’s dead, Marie.”

Her phone broke as it hit the pavement.


	2. Mend

He felt fear, felt disbelief, felt hysterical. He felt way too many things in too little time. He felt all the control he thought he had slowly flee as his voice kept raising in pitch as he yelled frantically. 

He didn’t do it. 

He couldn’t have done it. 

There was no way.

He was gone all day.

Lost in wonderland.

This was just too bizarre, an insane joke. Funny, yes funny. But a joke’s a joke and it’s got to end.

Laugh? 

No. 

No this wasn’t funny. 

This is no game. 

He did it. 

He must have. 

He didn’t.

He did. He did. 

No, he didn’t.

He did.

He had no control, control, control.

And he’s laughing out of pain, pain, pain.

But then he sees her. He sees her soul.

The bright warmth of its song was now only a whisper. He barely could feel the vibrato. 

She is grieving, and it hurts him. 

He doesn’t understand much, but he understands enough to know she doesn’t deserve it. And he wants to break the cause. Because breaking is an art form, and he’s a prodigy of it.

He takes a step forward. And another. One foot in front of the other. But it’s weak, and he stumbles until he feels a warm hand come upon his cold back.

“Lets go, Stein.”

He feels his heart stop; and his fear drop, as something anew takes his soul. 

She pushes him forward, but leans on him as well-they both lean on each other. Hand grasping hand, until he feels the warmth slowly fade, and the weight dissipate. 

She’s crying, and he would weep if he knew how to.

His mind doesn’t know what to do, but his body moves.

And she leans on him, as he catches her fall.

\----

 

Marie never really considered Stein to be someone who was capable of comfort. He was a cold stone, jagged with cracks. A man disconnected from his own emotions. When talking to him, he’d reply honestly, and sometimes honesty can make a situation worst. It wasn’t a bad thing though, other times. Sometimes people needed to hear some harsh words.

But in her case, he didn’t say the normal spiel he does with others. In fact, he didn’t utter a single word or noise. She remembered all the subtle movements he made when she broke down at the tree. How he placed his hand on the back of her head with care, and moved her body towards his chest. How she sobbed into his dirty shirt from days of wearing, soaking it in tears and snot. How he never pulled away though as she did. How he simple just stroked her hair as she cried a flood right onto him. 

Now here they were, after a gross shower, eating a silent breakfast in a run down, roach infested motel. The doors and floor creaked and croaked with every step, and the wallpaper was shredded as if a wolverine had lost all control inside. The atmosphere gave her a haunting feeling, distressing her slightly more than she wanted. But the man across from her sitting in a chair too small for him didn’t seem to mind. Honestly, she was fairly certain he hadn’t slept last night, but who was she to say anything? She hadn’t either. 

“How are you feeling, Marie?” Stein’s sudden question startled her a bit as she wasn’t expecting him to make conversation at all this morning. She chewed her food for a few more seconds, and then swallowed. 

“I’m doing fine,” she said, which wasn’t entirely a lie. She wasn’t going to start bawling at that exact moment, if that was what he meant. Other than that, though, her weekend had been a complete mess, which equated to her being a complete mess as well. Her hair was a knotted mess and her clothes were as dirty as a golden retriever that had been rolling in a pool of mud. To top it off, she wanted to do nothing but sleep. 

But yeah, not having an urge to start uncontrollably crying for another three hours was a step in the right direction. An itty-bitty, teeny-tiny step, because she still felt like her very own soul had been just ripped out of her chest and the weight of a thousand regrets pounded on her shoulders. 

Stein just stared at her for a few seconds. “Good to hear. ” Then he began eating his pile of scrambled eggs and toast again. Marie knew that he could tell she was far from O.K., but he didn’t persist. She was kind of happy he didn’t.

 

“How about you, Stein, how are you doing?” Marie twiddled her plastic spork in between her fingers, putting on the best fake smile she could. The past week had been rough inside the patchwork laboratory, even before B.J was murdered.

Ever since the disastrous Brew mission, Stein was feverish, as if he wasn’t there at all. He stared off into the walls with the most painful, yet void look in his eyes. Those same eyes, wide and shaking as they twitched rapidly from side to side.

Sometimes he would groan, a noise that caused Marie’s heart to stop and her worry to begin, as he sat with the palms of his hands cradling his face; nails digging into his skull. Sometimes he would get hysterical, clawing at his own body, ripping his flesh and drawing blood, where he would cry out in a shrilling laughter. Marie once had to pin him down as he tried to use a shard of glass from a broken vase to rip into himself. 

Her partner stared down at his plate as he thought on what to say.

“Better…” he responded in a stale tone.

“That’s good.” But she wasn’t entirely convinced. And he knew that. 

\--  
After the awkward breakfast Marie shared with Stein, she crashed on the couch in the tiny motel living room, feeling like shit. She couldn’t sleep but she was tired, extremely tired. She just didn’t wanna do anything that day but lay there, safe from the harshness of the world. Marie didn’t have any thoughts on moving that day, until she miraculously found herself on a shopping trip for clothes.

Surprisingly, it was Stein who suggested they find new clothes that didn’t look like old, grease stained rags. His only reasoning being that they stood out like a cancer among cells. Despite the weird analogy, Marie agreed to it, but didn’t end up moving until Stein decided enough was enough and dragged her off the couch. So away they went to the nearest town - and into a costume shop. 

When they walked in, both looking like battered stinky zombies, she could tell people were going out of their way to avoid them. She honestly couldn’t blame them. She would too. 

“Tell me again why we’re in a costume shop and not a proper clothing store?” Marie asked as she scanned over another sexy nurse set in annoyance. The model in front of the packaged costume, showing it off, would’ve been enough to give Spirit a boner. 

“It’s less suspicious for us to be in an informal environment rather than a strict one. As we look like zombies already, people will just think that we’re part of the staff. Also it’s cheaper,” Stein explained, on the other side of the walkway. He himself seemed to be having trouble finding anything relatively normal to wear. She could hear him grumble about how dumb some of the costumes were. 

So in the end, after a long while time of frustration in the costume shop, Marie was able to convince Stein to get clothes from a proper establishment (but not before he could snag a cheap lab coat off the racks). And while they both were being stared up and down by customers and security alike, they managed to get out physically unscathed. 

The clothes they bought were quite nice, Marie had to admit. Even though she couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for, she did find some very cute shorts that matched the vest and shirt she got. Really, the outfit almost reminded herself of how she use to dress when she was just a kid. Her little tiny self bouncing around with cute twin braids and a frilly shirt paired with a more frilly skirt. Oh, how much she wished to go back to the carefree days of being a kid again, not having to deal with the hardships of being a Death Scythe in the middle of a war. A war full of casualties…

“You look nice.” Stein’s voice snapped Marie out of her thoughts. She looked around and noticed they had left the town quite a while ago, once again walking in a desert like abyss. 

“Ah, I’m sorry I wasn’t listening, what did you say?” Marie gave an embarrassed grin to her tall meister, in which he gave a soft smile back, still looking forward though. He has a cute smile, Marie thought to herself.

“I said you look nice.” 

Marie felt her face heat up.

“Oh! Uh, thanks, you do too.” Her face must’ve looked dumb as she felt the heat intensify and a silly grin form on her face. Stein turned to look at her with a slightly surprised expression that turned into a face of slight concern soon after.

“Are you feeling alright, Marie?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah, I feel fine. Why?” 

“You look a little flushed is all,” Stein made a circling motion around his face, showing where the redness was on her. She probably looked like a cherry at this point.

“It’s probably just the heat!”

“Most likely, yes.” 

They continued walking off into the sunny day, that began turning into a sunny afternoon, till they reached their motel room once more. Being greeted by the creaky floorboards still unnerved Marie, but she felt better about it with having Stein around. 

Even though many people used “crazy” as a word to describe him, she found him to be one of the most relaxing people to hang out with. She felt safe with him, able to talk freely about her thoughts and genuinely be herself around him. It was different with him versus all the other men she’d hung out with or dated; always trying to do something to appeal to their needs and not to her own.

But with Stein, she wasn’t judged. Not for the weird snort she did when she laughed, or for her battered and scarred eye, hidden beneath her black eye-patch. The only judgement done in the lab was if someone forgot to do the dishes when it was their night. (Albeit, Stein’s missed more days than her...)

When they entered their room, Marie swiftly made her way towards the stiff and stained couch and plopped down on it, resting her tired legs. Stein followed suit but sat in the armchair across from her. 

They sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of fresh clothing back on their backs. Stein was the first to break that silence.

“Marie?” he asked, looking up at the the ceiling with his head back. 

She responded with a simple noise to show she was listening, but what came next threw her off guard. 

“Did Joe have any enemies, Marie?” Marie’s eyes widened after hearing the name of her ex-boyfriend. Startled, she took a moment to collect her thoughts before replying back to Stein, who had returned his gaze from the ceiling back to her; focused and engaged.

“N-No, I don’t think he did, I mean, he could have, seeing as we haven’t really, well, been together for the last couple of years. But, he doesn’t seem to be the kind of person who’d have an enemy.” Marie could feel her throat clog up and a headache begin. Stein simply stared at her and blinked. 

“Do you remember him saying anything important, like where he was going the night he died?” Stein leaned in forward, Marie sunk into herself. 

“He...” She gulped and breathed in, trying to ease the pressure building within her.

“He didn’t say anything of the sort, but, he did invite me to dinner.” 

“And he never showed up.”

And he never will again.

Gone, just like that.

“No,” but the word came out almost inaudible. 

Stein stopped the bullets of questions he was shooting at her. He looked slightly alarmed. 

“We should get some rest, it’s been a rough past couple of days,” he suggested. Marie couldn’t help but happily agree to get out of the conversation.  
\---

Stein laid on his back upon the couch, looking up into the dark room surrounding him. His eyes were unfocused and widened, as his sight was filled up with piercing red eyes that surrounded him, staring through him. They dared not blink, and neither did he. It’s as if he was petrified. Unable to look away as sickening thoughts began to devour his mind.

He was tired of this. Tired of his own haywired mind.

The doctor lifted his arms and covered his face with the palms of his hands, hoping the strangling stares would go away. But they didn’t, and they never would. They’d be there no matter what, to taunt him and drive him mad. 

And madder indeed did he get, as he heard a gut-wrenching whisper that slowly grew louder and louder, closer and closer, till he felt lips upon his ear. Her smooth yet sharp voice sent shivers down his spine and made him want to retch.

“Poor, Poor, Dr. Stein,” he could feel her icy fingers wrap around his neck. Her body on top of his, smothering him. But he dared not look. There was no need to anyways, he already knew who it was.

“You tried so hard to stay in line, but look at where that got you,” her words felt like daggers as she pressed against his throat. He couldn’t breathe. The nail’s of the hands upon his face began to dig into his skull to try and get rid of the slithery voice that continued.

“You snapped. And now you are living your nightmare of becoming one of the monsters you just love all so much to tear into.” Snakes slithered up his legs, their scales ripping open his flesh. He couldn’t breathe.

“You know, I wonder what he sounded like, as his body was torn into and ripped into ribbons. Were his screams and cries shrill, gasping for life, or loud, as he begged for someone to save him? Or maybe he was silent, too stunned to see a man he once knew take away everything from him, one bone at a time”

“I didn’t do it,” he gasped out, as the snakish fingers dug deeper into his throat. A part of himself didn’t believe his own words. He could’ve, could’ve, could’ve...

“I wonder how much longer it’ll be for her to figure it out, Stein.”

He wanted to shriek but his body protested. 

“And for her and everyone else you care for, to turn on you.”

The snakes were wrapped around him, and he can’t escape, and he never will.

“Stein.”

He’s just so tired. 

“Stein!”

Stein shot up quicker than a bullet only to see a worried Marie stand before him.

Marie shook her arms frantically as she whispered, “I’m sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you… I just… um…” 

“It’s Ok, I’m a light sleeper is all.” It wasn’t a lie, not entirely at least. He tried to hide his rapid breathing from Marie. She already had too much on her plate to worry about him right now. 

He turned his gaze towards Marie, noticing her eye to be very… puffy… and red. Marie saw Stein’s eye contact and quickly tried to use her bed head hair to cover up the eye. But it was too late.

“What’s the matter Marie?” Stein gave her a puzzled look, trying to ignore the shadows that danced in the corner of his eyes. The short woman looked away.

“Well… uh, listen, I know this is a really weird request, and I understand if you don’t feel comfortable with it, but… would it be OK if you slept with me in the bed tonight. I won’t hog the blanket or make a peep! I just don’t… I just don’t want to be alone right now.” Marie had completely averted her gaze from Stein by then and was fiddling with her fingers. She looked…embarrassed?

“Well, if that's what you want,” Stein said. He got up off the couch with a pillow in hand, ready to migrate. Marie stared up at him with a reddened face but a warm smile. For once he could see the tired wrinkles and bags that lied beneath her eyes.

“Thank you, Franken,” Marie said softly.

“Of course.” Stein stated. Marie looked up at him with a light shimmering in her eye that he hadn’t seen in a while. He stared back at her beautiful carmel eye, feeling a flutter inside of him. He wanted to hold her, and feel her electric body upon his own stiff one. But he didn’t, and instead walked past her towards the single bed in the apartment. Marie quickly followed close behind.  
Stein slid open the small door to the even tinier “bed room” so to speak. It was unnecessary to even have the door there-what privacy does a single person need?… Unless you were two people who were on the run with minimal funds, then, he assumed, privacy would be needed for a single bedroom room in a run down motel. 

Marie entered the room behind Stein as he began to position himself on the side of the bed farthest from the entrance. She stood there awkwardly for a second, but soon slid under the sheets beside her overgrown partner. He was conscious of the fact that he hogged up a lot of space, though not intentionally. 

The stars peaked into the room from the night sky outside the window, and as they both laid there, back to back, souls humming against one another, Marie fell back into a peaceful rest. Stein could feel her breathing slow as her soul began to calm down from the angst it was feeling before. As for himself, he took a little longer, and he watched as the eyes that once stared at him, close and faded away, and he too, fell into a deep sleep.

 

\---  
Marie woke up to an empty bed. The warm body that laid next to her? Gone. But the blanket? All hers. She twisted her body a full 180 to quickly see if her “cuddly buddy” was truly gone, and when she saw that he was, she wasn’t surprised. Instead, she felt her face heat up. He really did sleep with her… In the same bed.

Marie, feeling the heat tingle down her neck, once again moved herself so that she was looking up at the ceiling. She could feel her heart quicken as she thought about it. Stein slept in the same bed as her. Her childhood crush. She felt embarrassed to the bone, but, also so... light. Giddy like a five year old child at their birthday party. 

She wanted him, and it made her feel gross. Joe had just died only a few days ago, and now she was beginning to have feelings again for a man who’d already turned her down back when they were just kids. Scratch that, a man who was not even remotely interested in having a relationship with anyone, period. She loved Joe, and it felt like she was cheating on him, even though she wasn’t even in a relationship with Stein. And it wasn’t like she could cheat on him. He was gone for good this time. A final breakup that neither of them foresaw. 

Marie stayed in bed for a while longer, trying to wash away the feelings of disgust. Her ex had just died, and here she was pining for someone else. A rebound. How could she do this to him, after all they had? All they shared? She was throwing it out the window. Like what they had never mattered to her. Like he never even mattered to her. 

As for Stein, it would be a breach of the friendship they shared. A breach of his own personal feelings. She couldn’t do that to him. She never wanted to do that to him.

Marie took in a deep breath. It was too early in the morning for this. 

With a swivel of her legs, Marie managed to right her body so she was sitting on the edge of the stiff mattress; feet touching the poor excuse of a carpet. She took a few moments to mentally prepare herself for the long day ahead, then, grudgingly, got up. 

She navigated herself through the poorly lit room, the only light source coming from a window with partially opened blinds. Her body felt sticky and hot as she moved towards the door and opened it with a creak. The first thing she saw while her eye adjusted to the light was Stein, sitting on the couch with a packed bag. The clothes he bought yesterday hung around his body, and he oddly found the time to add stitches to the cheap lab coat he got from the costume shop. Typical of him.

He was reading a newspaper with it so close to his face that it touched his nose. She almost forgot he left his glasses back in Death City. 

“Good morning,” Marie softly said, her voice not fully awake yet. She watched him lower his newspaper so his eyes connected with hers. “Good morning,” he said back. 

Marie walked over towards her partner, and as she did, Stein picked up a plastic box of doughnuts that sat next to him.

“Want one?” Feeling her stomach growl, Marie gladly accepted the offer.

Stein went back to reading his newspaper as Marie nibbled down on the glazed goodness that she held. Her eyes began to wander as she ate, first noticing that the black dress shirt Stein wore was unbuttoned, or more like, unstitched at the top, exposing his collarbone. She moved her eyes quickly away as to not stare. She look at a few more things till finally, her golden iris landed upon the packed bag sitting next to Stein once more. Her eyebrow raised in curiosity. 

“Where are we going?” she asked, quickly following that question with a, “Did you get a lead?”   
Marie caught herself gripping her shorts, feeling her nails press into her thighs as she turned all her attention towards Stein. Her heart was quickening in anticipation. 

“If you consider a hunch a lead then yes, I did.” Stein replied, once again lowering the newspaper and setting it on the coffee table in front of them this time. He turned towards Marie, picking up a doughnut for himself. Marie leaned in forward, gripping harder at her shorts till her hands trembled. Stein noticed the tension in her body, and calmly put a hand on top of one of hers, prompting her to stop. He took a deep breath in.

“To get straight to the point, I don’t think a kishin egg is responsible for the murder of Bj” Marie’s eyebrow furrowed as Stein took a bite out of the carbs at hand. He then looked up at the ceiling as if in deep thought, finally taking his hand off of Marie’s thigh and back onto his own.

“It doesn’t seem like people really understand the circumstances the DWMA is in right now. We’re at war, and casualties aren’t anything new, especially specific targeting.” Stein took a quick peek at Marie, but her face was cold, just like his. He felt un-eased. 

“You’re saying someone targeted Joe.” Marie’s voice was flat as she spoke.

“Yes,” Stein took another bite.

Stein kept silent as he stared up at the ceiling, closing his eyes this time. Marie’s face turned stern at how nonchalant Stein seemed about the situation.

“Well?” Marie asked out of impatience. Stein finally opened his eyes again, and looked Marie straight on. Marie’s eyebrows digged into each other as she waited, than, like a cannonball at point blank range, it hit her. 

“He was killed because of his soul perception...” she mumbled, her expression exploding into a state of shock. How could she have not realized sooner? 

Stein didn’t confirm nor deny her latest claim, only gave a look of what seemed to be pity. Marie’s face fell and her head tilted till it defeatedly hung from her shoulders. 

“A witch.” Stein barely heard her voice crack, not that he needed to in order to know how she felt--he could feel it in her soul. 

“There’s nothing to say that that is 100% true, but it’s the most likely thing that happened,” he added on. Marie didn’t move, only went back to clenching her fists till her body trembled. Stein, noticing her tension, tried to give her a reassuring hand on the shoulder, but she shot up just as he made contact. Violently, she walked out the front door, slamming it behind her. Stein and his doughnuts were left behind, confused and shocked. The emotions that she kept inside of her finally burst, and a storm began to brew. 

\--

Stein found Marie later that day standing by the entrance of the local town’s graveyard. He noticed that a poor tree had been knocked down by a hurricane. 

Stone hedges lined up in rows with christian themes sprinkled about. Many people considered graveyards to have a haunting or painful tone to them, but for Stein, he always found them to be tranquil places. They were simply appealing to him, as his mind felt clearer in the absence of sound and people. Just corpses and the whistle of the wind.

He knew Marie could hear him walking up to her, but she made no subtle movement to acknowledge his presence. The wind picked up and Marie’s golden locks waved in the breeze, as though to say hi to him. He felt a longing in him to run his fingers through the fine strands; to say hello back. Instead, he approached behind her and stopped, looking over her shoulder at the bleak and grey scene ahead.

They stood like that for what seemed to be hours compressed into minutes, watching the clouds shift dark shades over the graves. Stein turned his eyes towards Marie, only to see the top of her head and the lightning bolt cowlic on top of it. He watched her hair sway in the wind, as if trying to pull her forwards and backwards; to and fro, barely resting in between shifts.

“Ma-” 

 

“I’m sorry.”

His eyes widen as he heard her, but returned back to the gloomy look that they always have soon after. Stein didn’t say anything to her apology. Instead, he wrapped his soul around hers and, when he felt a low hum of resonance between them, turned his attention away from her and back towards the graves. Bleak and grey...

“We have to move on, Marie.”

Sunshine peaked through the clouds and shimmered bright light onto the graves. The rays of light kept shifting till they finally rested upon Marie as well, leaving Stein still in the dark shades of the clouds above. Marie tilted her head upwards at the sky, the sun showing off the bright highlights in her hair as the wind once more tugged at it, flying the loose strands forward with a loud, whoosh. She turns around and faces Stein with a noticeable stain running down her cheek... 

“Yeah, we do,” … and grimly smiles through the pain.


	3. Forward

Marie’s legs felt as tired as a teenager during a lecture. She and Stein have been walking for maybe about five hours now, albeit, it could just be her overestimating time. 

“Are we almost there?” Marie whined, wanting to rest her aching feet. Stein simply shrugged as he checked out the map they grabbed out of a tourist store back at the town they previously were in. Marie noticed Stein twisting and turning the paper around as if he couldn’t see anything on it. Wait, he really couldn’t see anything on it.

Marie, who was straying a few feet behind the tall man, took longer strides to catch up to his own.

“Here, let me help,” Marie grabbed the paper right out of Stein’s hands. She didn’t notice the upset look he held after the action was done. She lagged behind him as she began to process the information before her.

“Sooo…. we’re trying to get to this town… which means that…” Marie mumbled in and out the thoughts in her head. She concentrated hard on making sure she got the right town down and the key pictures around it. In fact she was concentrating so far she didn’t notice Stein stop up ahead. After all, she didn’t do very well in geography at school.

“Marie.”

“Then if that’s the scale for the miles than we are…”

“Marie.”

“No… that’s not right…” She pouted. 

“Marie,” Steins voice cut through her thinking like a precise scalpel. But not before she bumped into his back. She ended up catching a good whiff of why it was important to shower each day before she bounced right back off of it. 

“What?” She snapped, only to look up from the map finally, and see the vague outline of a fairly good sizeable town up ahead. Stein crossed his arms and gave a slightly annoyed look at her, although she could tell it was playful at the same time.

“Oh hey… Would you look at that? We’re here,” Marie gave a sheepish grin towards Stein. He only sighed at her, then yoinked the map right back out of her hands and folded it neatly to slide into his coat pocket. Only then did he start walking towards the silhouette of a town again, Marie closely following behind him a bit flustered. 

She suddenly remembered the reason why they wanted to come to this town. And it rubbed her the wrong way even then. They were going to find their killer witch, by using another witch. Stein was the one who proposed the idea, telling her of the rumors he once heard of an info broker witch who could grant you all the knowledge you yearned for. He quickly stated right after that no witch could possibly do that and that people were dumb to believe so, but he did come across a file of a neutral party witch who sold information on people’s whereabouts. 

“Isn’t that kind of… black markety?” Marie asked him. He only shrugged.

“Information is information, and at this point, we are in this blind.” And he was right, but he couldn’t have found some other source to find? One that didn’t sound so… well, shady? Hell, who knows, this witch could have been the one to kill B.J. for all they know. And if that was the case… then only a prayer to a higher being could possibly save her from the woman known as “The Pulveriser.” 

Stein cracked his back as they headed into the town, abrupting Marie from her, more than slightly, violent thoughts. 

“Welcome to our lead,” Stein said, holding his hands in the air as if he was one of those people in one of those weird game shows showing off a prize or something. 

“Impressive,” Marie replied sarcastically. Stein gave off a genuine chuckle that turned into a smirk.

“Let’s go catch us a killer, shall we?” 

\--

The town they’ve arrived in was a fair sized town, with a more densely populated center than outer, where obscured placed houses laid. Right now they were in that bustling center, where restaurants and casinos ran amuck with the few general stores and tourist traps then and there. Cars ran in and out of the town and people walked up and down the streets, hurrying towards their next self indulgent destination.

It was a nice little town with some pretty architecture from the 1800s. Marie wanted so bad to just join the hustling crowd and take in the neon lights and tiny shoppes the town had to offer. Really she just wanted a vacation. Something to take her mind off of everything that’s been happening. But alas she couldn’t--even though she was partaking on this murder mystery for selfish intent, she knew that the same killer who killed B.J, could easily harm one of her students, and for the love of Death, if anything ever happened to her kids…

“Let’s try this place,” Marie looked to her side to see Stein standing in front of a bar. 

“A bar?” She questioned. Stein turned to look at her. “Yeah, a bar.”

Stein and herself have been trying to find info on where they could find their black market witch for a good margin of their day and seeing as they were still there and not somewhere else, she could consider their progress and results less than even fruitless. They’ve went from store to store; street to street, asking people if they know of an info broker in town, but to add more shade to the black of the shadow, no one knew anything.

Marie stared at the bar for a good few seconds and got a good feeling that it was less than classy of a social hub, as she could hear some fairly loud noises from the inside. Though being a bit of a gruff setting may be good sign that someone who knows something about their witch may be in there. Or maybe that was just a movie stereotype...

“ I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try…” She said to Stein. And so they entered the dimly lit place.

The first thing to notice when Marie stepped inside was the brutal murder of her senses with cigarette smoke. Now she wasn’t usually fazed by the stuff seeing as she pretty much lived with a heavy smoker (cough, Stein, cough), but it was nothing compared to a room full of heavy smokers. She noticed even Stein’s nose was a little wrinkled. 

The next thing she took note of, was that the movie clichés were real as she quite literally must have stepped inside a bar full of biker gangs. People ranging from all sorts of different sizes bore tattoos and leather jackets with a pride she only sees in Black*Star. If they were gonna get info on some black market stuff, it definitely was gonna be here.

“So,” she breathed out, perking Steins attention, “where do we start?” 

“Thats a good question Ms.Mjolnir, a very good question,” Stein replied. Marie could only think of how much of a hot mess this was gonna be.

They decided to split up to cover more ground, Stein taking the bar counter and Marie taking on the dining area. 

Despite the rough and tough looks the residents had, a lot of them were fairly nice to her. They were easy to converse with and even offered to buy Marie a few drinks. Of course she politely refused (Though she could use a drink pretty badly right now). The friendliness was a definite plus, but none of the people she conversed with had any idea about an info broker in town. So she was back at square one once more. 

“You are quite the doll, sweetie,” An older woman probably in her mid-60s was talking to her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help ya out any with finding your lady any.”

“That’s okay Miss, I really appreciate your help anyway-” A loud shattering noise interrupted her and every other single conversation that was going on at the bar. Heads turned only to find Stein drenched in alcohol and blood trickling down his face. A large man was standing above him where he was still sitting at the bar counter looking down.

“You fucking shitbag, don’t you ever call me a dumbass ever again!” The man yelled. His speech was slurred and he looked as if he was about to tip over. An angry drunk. Stein just snickered. 

“I didn’t call you a ‘dumbass’ I said ‘your brain must be smaller than a pea,’ which is a vastly different sentence than just ‘dumbass,’” Stein exclaimed with a crooked grin as he picked up a nearby napkin and soaked up the blood coming down on his face. The fury on the man’s face grew but Stein didn’t stop there.

“Now why don’t you be a sweetheart and give the young man his wallet ba-” But Stein never finished his sentence as he got whammed with a fist right to the face, knocking him off the stool and making him fall flat onto the hard floor below. The residents at the bar made painful noises as they watched the conflict escalate. But Marie stayed silent. She began to feel her own blood boil to a destructive degree causing her body to run up instinctively towards the large man with a fist loaded back.

“Don’t you ever touch my fucking meister again!” She screamed as she let all hell break loose on the man’s stomach, punching him with such a might it sent him flying straight up and right back down, breaking the innocent floorboards in the process. Marie pulled back her fist again but the man never got up.

“Oh Death I killed him,” Marie panicked, chewing at her nails. The guilty feeling didn’t last for long though as Stein got up off the floor, seemingly unfazed despite the bloody nose he now had, and checked the large man’s pulse. He listened for a couple of seconds, than sighed. 

“Nah, you just traumatized him is all,” Stein seemed slightly disappointed in the lack of damage the man’s body had. Even the bar seemed a little disappointed with how quickly things had ended.

Marie watched as Stein bent down over the slumped body on the ground and pulled a basic brown wallet from the man’s back jean pocket, than tossed it over towards the shaking young man from before.

“T-Thank you,” he said, but Stein wasn’t paying attention for he was scavenging the bar counter for some tissue to soak up the blood that trickled down his nose. So the man looked over at Marie and said thank you to her as well.

“Oh, uh, your welcome,” she responded, then awkwardly turned around and started towards Stein but didn’t make it far before the young man spoke up again.

“I heard you are looking for an info broker from your partner,” the man said to her. Marie turned around, a hopeful expression on her face.

“Yeah, we are…” The man smiled, glad to help the strangers who helped him. 

“I know where you can find her.”

\--

Marie stood behind Stein as he banged furiously on the wooden door belonging to a fairly old and worn down house. Not out of anger, but out of impatience. Marie felt both of those emotions. 

‘This could be it’, she thought to herself. 

The killer, she was one step closer to it. 

The monster who took everything away from her friend, and who took her friend from her. She curled her hands into two tight balls, feeling her dirty nails stabbing into her palms. Her mind raced as she felt anger steadily boil within her just by thinking about it. 

Marie Mjolnir was considered one of the kindest people on the planet, but that never stopped her from breaking a few bones. Vengeance was her end-game, and she was gonna get it no matter what.

BANG. BANG. BANG 

Stein went off again on the door. He waited two seconds, then took a step back and looked up at the shelter. His eyes scanned the house, wandering across the scraped blue paint of the walls. After not seeming to find anything of interest, he squinted his eyes, as if trying to see farther beyond than what was physically there. Then Stein froze, as if he felt something brush past him.

“Dammit,” Stein cussed under his breath, and before Marie could ask what, he began sprinting around the tacky old house towards the back. Marie didn’t have time to think, only react, as she chased after her partner. 

The dusty ground lifted up as she leaped from one foot to another, trailing behind in a cloud of dust being stroked up by Stein’s own feet. She coughed as she inhaled the grains and felt her annoyance verge on the brink of breaking. 

They rounded the house’s corner, and ran further into the small town in which they’d been camping out at. The townsfolk stared at them with confusion as the two outsiders bumped into some people, knocking them down. Marie was repeatedly saying sorry to every bystander Stein threw to the ground. 

They kept running for a few more moments until Stein abruptly stopped, and looked up at the sky with his hand shading his dull green eyes from the sun. Marie, seeing him do so, did it herself, only to spot a black spectacle wobbling through the air. 

As she continued to look at the object in slight uncertainty as to what she was seeing, Franken ran across the street to where a garage sale conveniently seemed to be occurring, and took a glass jar off of a plastic table with various other goods placed on top. The only thought Marie could come up with in the time was that she was looking at an insect.

An insect. 

In the sky. 

Flying away from them.

Oh.

“Marie, transform!” Stein shouted at her as he raced back towards her. She did not hesitate as she felt her body heat up, and her form melt away into something new. 

Stein caught the hammer in his right hand, and felt a surge of electricity wash over his body as his soul intertwined with his weapon’s. She felt her heart raced as she became one with her meister, and knew exactly what to do.

Her hammer form glowed and extended outwards into a tonfa. The electric pulses now surrounding them, and engulfing them with a powerful resonance. 

“Izuna!”

With the new physical power, Stein lept high into the air, and over the tiny… fly? He quickly let go of Marie for a split second and undid the Jar’s lid. As he started to fall down, he swooped the panicking fly right out of the air and sealed the glass jar shut. 

Marie, still in weapon form, fell close by him. He gritted his teeth as he extended his free hand out towards the tonfa’s handle, fingertips barely touching it. He extended further once more, and as they were about to crash into the roof of the garage sale place, he caught his weapon’s handle, pulling Marie in close towards his body as his back hit the roof of the house, knocking the wind out of him.

“Stein!” Marie screamed, as he began rolling off the roof and about to fall off. Marie transformed back in the nick of time as they started to tip over, and wrapped her body around his, as they crashed into dumpster of trash bags.

Marie emerged out of the smelly mess first, helping Stein out as he tried to catch his breath again. He still held onto the jar like his life depended on it. As they hobbled out of the dumpster, Stein bent over with one hands on one of his knees, wheezing in and out. Marie rested her hand on his back, feeling the rapid movements of his diaphragm. 

“Holy shit, Franken, are you OK?”

“I’m… fine…” His voice was soft and airy as he harshly breathed between each word. Marie rubbed his back, noticing the little insect buzzing against the glass walls of the jar, trying to escape.

Stein, regaining his composure, straightened himself back up and brought the jar up to eye height, staring the magical fly dead on. 

“If it weren’t for the fact you’re not on Death’s list, I would’ve ripped you into shreds by now.” The glare and deadly aura coming from the scientist caused the fly to slowly coward back away from him, all six legs shaking intensely. 

 

\--

The Fly Heretic, just like any fly, wasn’t much of a threat at all. Her soul’s size was laughable compared to the other’s he has seen. Limited destructive traits were present in her itty bitty soul, showing a weak connection to the sway of magic most witches had. Though it did display a strong sense of curiosity just like his own. And while most witches were well into their 400’s, she looked very young. Her body features displaying the age equivalent to that of a human teenager. Her height was only slightly taller than Marie’s and her dull brown hair was ratty and splitted.

Though the most obvious trait of the witch was her nervousness. It wasn’t difficult to tell the heretic was scared beyond belief. Her whole body seemed to be vibrating as she hugged herself tightly on the ground, her back propped against the wall that belonged to the house they just fell off of.

He felt a rush of excitement at the scene. He was a sadistic creature afterall.

“I-I don’t know what I did, but please, don’t hurt me, I’ll give you anything you want, just please…” Her voice quivered as if about to cry. If he felt empathy, he’d probably feel pity for the young witch. 

Stein opened his mouth to speak, but Marie beat him to it as she stepped in between him and the shriveled up witch. She then continued to kneel down to see eye to eye with a pair of pupils that seemed to avoid her own at all costs.

“We don’t want to hurt you, despite how er… aggressive my partner may be! We just need some answers is all,” Marie spoke with the softest voice she could muster. But Stein could feel the strain in her voice. Marie was not a fan of witches. Really no one was in the DWMA. Not after all the bloody history there is between the two forces. But that didn’t mean every witch was a killer, and that not every DWMA student was a saint either. He would say he was a pretty good example of the latter. 

“My name is Marie Mjolnir, and my tall partner here is Dr. Stein,” she gestured towards Stein behind her, where he only stared back with a blank expression.

“H-Hello.” He could barely hear the words that came out of the small witch’s mouth. It irritated him.

“Speak up, you’re too quiet,” Stein bluntly (and with maybe a little more aggression than attended) said, causing the witch to jump and then, to his annoyance, start crying. Marie shot a deadly glare at him before turning her attention back to the sobbing youngling before her. 

“Hey, hey. It’s OK! Shh, it’s alright! Trust me, you’re OK,” Marie slightly panicked as she tried to calm down the witch, waving both of her hands in front of her; trying to reassure her that what she was saying is true (because it is true… he thinks). But the witch just kept bawling though to Marie’s dismay.

Even though Marie disliked witches (strongly disliked in fact), he could still see the same face of concern she wears when one of her own students are crying. 

“I know this is a really scary and overwhelming situation for you, to be confronted like this with no idea on what’s going on, but please, calm down, I swear on my life, we aren’t here to hurt you,” Stein felt Marie’s wavelength begin to pulsate, and her body; glowing. The irritation he once had, faded away, as well as tiredness that wreaked havoc on his body. 

He watched with open eyes as Marie slowly, as if approaching a terrified stray animal, took the hands of the little fly and put them in her own. The witch, still choking on her own tears, met the hands with resistance at first, but soon began to relax in them, as her near hyperventilation slowed down, and the aching sobs stopped, leaving tear stains and a pair of swollen eyes behind. 

“That’s right, just breathe. In…” Marie took a deep breathe in, “and out.” The witch released a breathe out. Soon enough the fly heretic, once scared to even look at the petite woman, made full eye contact with Marie’s own singular eye (But still avoided Stein’s like the plague, which, he was use to). 

“I-I’m sorry..” Stein once again could barely hear what the fly heretic said, but made absolutely no comment. Not a pip. 

“No need to apologize, we’ve all been there before,” Marie stated reassuringly. Stein only picked at his ear. 

“Now,” Marie soothingly rubbed the fly witch’s hands. “Down to business.” The heritech nodded to show she was ready. Before Marie could start, Stein took over. 

“The D.W.M.A’s files assort you as a neutral party in the conflict between itself and other witches, is this still up to date information, Ms. Merissa Muck?” Stein blurted out. Marie shot a look over her shoulder at him. 

“What?” Stein, puzzled at her reaction, questioned her. Her face melted down into a “done” kind of expression, but that quickly faded as Merissa spoke up. Marie turned towards her as she gave her answer to Stein’s overly specific and strict question. 

“Yes, that-that is still correct.”

Before Marie could speak, Stein’s “interrogation” kept going. She was this close to replacing his cigarettes with crayons again. 

“Then that means no matter the outcome, you are ready to sell out information on your own species for the greater good of the common population?” The way Stein said species made Merissa flinch, and Marie… uncomfortable. 

“I-I…” The witch started to shake again. Marie could feel how alarmed she felt. This young witch, already burdened enough by the world, was answering a very straight-forward question. Are you willing to betray your own people? The rush of anxiety that Marie felt from the girl almost made her want to hug the small fly to help ease her pain. But instead, Marie took a different approach to Stein’s questioning. 

 

“One of my dear friends was murdered four nights ago.” Merissa stopped all her movements completely, and looked up at Marie in emaphetic shock. Even Stein looked a little startled at how abrupt Marie stated that fact. 

“He was a good man, and I’ll never forget how bright his smile was when he laughed. He was a kind man, a gracious man, and a loving man. And someone took that all away from the lives he was a part of. So, that’s why,” Marie gripped Merissa’s hands a little stronger, “I need your help to bring in the person who did this to us...to him.”

The fly heritech looked in awe at Marie, and the determination that boiled her blood red hot. Through a newfound drive and a look of courage on her face, Merissa gripped Marie’s hands back in response. 

“Where and what time was your friend killed?”


	4. Found

The witch was not a fighter. She was what others considered weak- in skill, strength, and magical prowess. No, she was not a fighter, but she was an observer. The information she collected was something valuable to a multitude of different parties. And so when people found out about her talents, they came to her wishing to know what they didn’t already. 

She gave people information because they wished to do good with it. She gave people information because they wanted to trade a service for a good. She gave people information because they took it by force-scars left as a reminder that bad creatures do exist in the world.

“This is a very nice home you have here,” Marie complimented as Merissa guided her and Stein towards her home office. 

“Thank you, I built it around 1910,” Marie and Stein felt a bolt of shock run down their spines. 

“How old are you?” Marie elbowed the tall man in the side. Hard. 

“Stein!” she scolded him through gritted teeth. Merissa only giggled. 

“It’s OK! I’m a little over a hundred, but I kind of lost count along the way to be honest.” Merissa ended her sentence with a nervous laugh, as the weapon meister duo suddenly felt quite a lot younger than what they were. 

“Anyways, here we are, this is where the magic happens.” Merissa opened a beautifully carved wooden door into decently sized room for the house. Inside was a bustling amount of computers and other neat gadgets scattered throughout the room. The fly heritech slowly made her way towards the desk that stood by the opposite to the door wall of the room, making sure not to step on anything. Stein and Marie followed suit but stopped in the center of the room, taking in the scene before them. 

There was one window to the right of them that had its curtains stapled shut, making the multiple monitors that laid within the only lightsource in the room. There was scattered papers, wrinkled and ripped, littering the floor and Merissa’s desk - plus a few books here and there thrown throughout. Stein even noticed a copy of “Cooking with Excalibur” laying down by his own feet. He instinctively felt his face wrinkle up into a deep cringe. 

“I’m sorry it’s such a mess, I usually pick up a bit when I know people are coming over for business, but it's not everyday you get chased around not knowing why you are being chased around and fearing for your life because oh wow, people are chasing you, but hey, stuff happens...ha...ha.” Merissa’s sentence got more and more frantic as it went on and her laughter at the end sounded more like a coping mechanism than being genuine. 

Marie also let out an awkward laugh in response, rubbing her hands together in guilt. Stein just stood there, seemingly more intrigued with the equipment than with what anyone had to say. 

“So, how does this work?” Stein asked, still taking in the details of the scene before him. 

“Quite simply actually! This machine here,” she patted the top of her computer, “helps me use my magic to register and store data on specific wavelengths that my flies sense throughout the country. With this I’m able to help identify the type of soul in the area the customer asks for and in best case scenarios, will be able to even identify that specific soul’s owner.” 

Stein noticed Marie clench her fists and her pulse quicken.

“The only drawback is wavelengths that are, well… how do I explain this… Wavelengths that are too overwhelming for me. My magic won’t be able to register those. They just kind of slip past the sensors of the flies. But those wavelengths would have to be on a godly level, like Death’s.” 

“That’s quite amazing,” Marie responded. Merissa blushed. 

“T-thanks- Bu- But, onto business!” Merissa stated, quickly transitioning back from flustered to formal once more. She plopped herself onto her beat up office chair and turned towards her computer, pulling up programs and record data sheets. Marie and Stein inched up closer to her and watched from behind as she typed and searched. 

“So, just to be sure Ms. Marie-- Death City at around 8 p.m?”

“Yes, around that time.” Marie and Stein leaned in closer as Merissa typed in the credentials. When she pressed enter, a list of data showed up with 3 rows of numbers in each column. She quickly scanned through the numbers, her mouth slowly became more agaped as she browsed.

“Oh wow. …” The fly scanned the screen with two bewildered eyes. 

 

“What is it, did you find the killer?” Marie asked all too feverishly. 

“Not quite yet…I’m just bewildered at…” 

“The amount of madness in the city…” Stein finished Merrisa’s sentence. She nodded at him.

“I’ve done jobs in Death City before but I’ve never seen this many maddening wavelengths in all my years of doing this…” 

Marie looked over at Stein, who’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together as he stared intently at the monitor. He looked a little sad to her, the way his tired eyes seem to be drooping even more than usual. She wondered what the man was thinking to register such a look.

Stein must’ve noticed her staring because he turned to look at her as well, forcing her out of her thoughts. Marie quickly steered her eyes away from his by natural instinct, returning to where Merissa sat, still talking, unaware of the interactions behind her. 

“ -you can scratch a witch off your possible suspect list, I don’t see any magical pulse readings on here…”

“Really?” Stein asked, breaking his monotone voice for once and turning his attention back to the screen. Marie also found herself slightly shocked at the revelation. Their original theory wasn’t holding. 

“Yeah, well, I mean, a witch still could’ve killed your friend without magic, but if there's one flaw about witches, it’s that we tend to be too heavily dependant on our magic. The likelihood of that scenario is extremely slim, especially since your friend was a high ranking meister.”

“Then who killed Joe?” Marie frantically asked. Her demeanor becoming more on edge by the second. Stein noticed the shift as her soul began to flare up, prompting him to unconsciously lay a hand upon her shoulder. Her body eased at his touch. 

“This guy right here,” Merissa pointed at a set of numbers that read quite high compared to the rest. ”None of the other madness readings are strong enough to be produced by kishin-eggs - just individuals who possess a great amount of madness on their own, be it a witch or human.” Marie noticed Stein looked down and away for a brief moment. 

“But this one right here, this is a kishin-egg, and it’s not a normal one at all I can tell you that.”

“What’s so different about it?” Stein perked up. Merissa furrowed her eyebrows and her face became pinched.

“Thats a good question, I can’t tell exactly what makes it so different, but whatever it is, the soul is extremely large compared to the others. I only see readings like these in souls that belong to powerful people like death scythes or high ranking meisters.”

 

“Death scythes?” Stein muttered under his breath. Merissa and Marie both turned towards him. 

“Huh?” Marie raised an eyebrow at Stein as he began to pace in a circle; his right hand covering his mouth and his eyes looking towards the ground. 

“Death scythes, Death scythes, Death scythes….” 

“Franken what is it?” Marie nervously questioned. Stein suddenly stopped. He turned and looked at Marie with a wide eye.

“Marie, did Justin Law ever return to the DWMA after the BREW incident?”

\--  
Stress didn’t even begin to describe what Azusa was feeling right now. Taking care of Oceania, locating the Kishin, and managing the war between the D.W.M.A and Arachnophobia all at the same time was something she never thought she’d have to do as a kid, yet here she was, feeling as if she was about to go mad herself.

The creases beneath her eyes had become more prominent over the last week as she spent more sleepless nights working and working and working. There was no time for breaks during war and definitely no time for breaks during the apocalypse. She’d only be able to sleep when she was dead, she guessed.

Her mental exhaustion really didn’t kick in till her very own best friend from childhood went missing with an absolute madman. And she doesn’t even know if she was OK or not.

Marie and the lunatic had been gone almost a week since Joe Butataki’s untimely death, an event that no one could have predicted within the D.W.M.A.. Butataki’s death really shook Azusa’s core, because it was just the beginning of a long and dreadful death toll, one that anyone could partake in, including herself. 

Azusa furiously clicked the pen she was holding as her leg bounced just as fast. She sat at her own desk where neat stacks of papers lied and spare pens laid in a pencil holder near the edge by her desktop computer. Her mind had shut off on her a few hours ago, and while she knew she probably wouldn’t be able to focus without proper rest, she attempted to finish the work in front of her. In fact, she was so unfocused she didn’t even realize Spirit had walked into her office, holding a cup of coffee.

The man walked up to her desk and set the coffee down, prompting Azusa’s attention and finally ending the loop of clicking. Spirit noticed Azusa's weary look and felt sad for her.

“She’s gonna be fine, ya know.” Azusa knew he meant Marie, but didn’t speak or make any sign of acknowledgement. 

“Marie’s a Death Scythe… she can handle herself and any bastard that dares look her way.” Still no response. Spirit sighed.

“Alright listen, I get that you’re mad and all but I didn’t just let Stein go, he slipped right between our fingers.” Azusa looked up at him with an icy glare.

“You’re a horrible husband and an even worse liar, Spirit Albarn.” 

“Hey now, that was a low blow.” Azusa gritted her teeth. 

“You are so unfathomably unaware of how serious this situation is, it just baffles me,” she mocked at him, causing Spirit to frown. Now she had him on the same plane as her.

“I’ve got a very good understanding of the situation, believe me, but your lack of trust in him is the baffling part of all of this,” he spat back at her. Azusa got out of her chair and stood tall against her colleague. 

“Lack of trust? Did you suddenly forget what he did to you? For five years?” Spirit winced but Azusa kept going while folding her arms. 

“Stein had to be put on house arrest from how serious his madness had gotten, he was barely even responsive after the conflict with BREW. He snapped Spirit, how hard is it to wrap that around your head?”

“I don’t have to wrap it around my head because it isn’t true, and by Death you know that too!” It was partly true. She may hate Stein, but his dedication to Death was no laughing matter and she admired his skills as a meister. None of that, however, could negate the evidence found at the crime scene and his state of mind on that day. The facts were damning, and she was the only one that could see it.

“One cigarette pack was found. One!!” Spirit angrily pointed a single finger at her. ”And suddenly that's enough evidence to convict a man of murder! Its dumb! And your dumb for thinking that too!”

Azusa opened her mouth to protest but Spirit didn’t let her.

“Yeah Stein’s a huge dick and a complete asshat, but Death!! His biggest fear is to become the monster everyone says he is, why would he throw so much away just do that?”

“Because that's what mad men do, Spirit!” Azusa shouted back with fire in her voice and before Spirit started to yell, a knock from the doorway made both of their heads turn. Standing in the doorway was Sid holding a disk.

“I’m sorry for interrupting but… you may want to have a look at this.” He waved the disk at the two.

“What is it Sid?” Azusa asked. Spirit promptly raised an eyebrow. 

“It’s a video,” he stated as he began to walk over towards Azusa’s desk, “sent to us by a local business with a security camera outside its front doors.” Sid plopped down on Azusa’s office chair and inserted the disk into the PC. Spirit and Azusa came up from behind the chair on opposite sides of Sid to get a look at the video that has just popped up onto the computer’s screen. The duo’s anticipation only grew when Sid clicked the play button.

It was a monochromatic video showing from an angle the store’s front and some of the street it called home to. Azusa read the timestamp located in the upper right corner of the screen, reading it to be 7:58 P.M and the date to be…

“This was recorded only a few minutes before B.J died…” Spirit exclaimed, his eyes widening. Azusa also had her eyes glued to the screen. Only a few more seconds passed till a figure appeared on the screen and a solemn atmosphere came over the three as they recognized Joe Butataki walking in and out of the shot. Alive and well.

“Give it a few more seconds…” Sid said, but Azusa and Spirit dared not to move as another figure came onto the screen, trailing B.J from a distance. Despite a hood over it’s face, Spirit, Sid, and Azusa all knew who it was.

“Justin Law,” Azusa whispered under her breath.  
\--  
Marie’s head was pounding and it felt like it was going to split. Did Justin Law ever return to the DWMA after the BREW incident? 

“Stein, that’s - that’s ridiculous! Are you implying he’s the one who killed B.J? That he, one of the loyalist people to the DWMA, turned his back on Lord Death?” Marie stared bewilderedly at Stein. He only stared back at her, not even blinking.

“Well..yes, that is what I asked.”

Marie’s nervous smile quickly faded.

“That’s absurd. There’s no way. Why - why would he do that?”

“Most likely he was compromised by the enemy.” Stein had a deadpan look on his face now. Marie wrapped her arms around herself and bit her lip. She could feel her nails dig into her flesh, but she didn’t notice the pain at all. Stein frowned, but looked concerned as well. 

“That's impossible though, you even said it yourself! That Justin couldn’t be easily swayed by the madness. That makes no sense!”

“Marie calm down please,” Stein said. Marie only felt the electricity in her rise even more towards dangerous voltage levels.

“Calm? Calm?! How can I be calm in a situation like this! How can you be so calm in a situation like this? This is our colleague we are talking about, our friend! There’s no way he could’ve done it, there’s no way he could’ve killed BJ!” Marie shouted at the top of her lungs. 

The room was silent. She felt her stomach drop. 

“Ms. Marie,” Marie looked at Merissa, and the anger she wore on her face made Merissa metaphorically shrink at the sight, but she held her ground. “I cannot confirm nor deny if your colleague is responsible for the murder of your friend, but I do know… that yelling right now isn’t gonna solve who did.”

Marie’s furrowed eyebrows shot up into a pained expression as she felt her anger melt away into guilt.

“I-I didn’t mean to- I…” Marie felt tears prick at her eyes, but she dared not let any fall. She quickly wiped them away with her arm and with a deep, but shaky breath, Marie regained her composure, but was still hugging herself. 

“You’re right,” Marie whispered, her voice cracking. She looked down towards the ground, but her eyes were tightly shut and her face was scrunched up in pain. She was feeling way too many things right now, way too many, but with every jerky breath she took, she suppressed each and every emotion down into the tartarus of her soul. 

She didn’t deny she was conflicted, deep in a pit of disbelief. Even though she barely knew Justin, as he wasn’t the most chattiest person, he had more dedication to Lord Death than any other Death Scythe in the world. To think he would suddenly lose it just like that, with the snap of a finger, was absurd, a prediction no one could ever make. But for some reason, deep down in her mind, it did make sense. In some skewed, twisted way. 

Justin’s dedication to Death was obsessive. And in a relationship, she knew, obsession was a killer. A cold-blooded killer. 

But it was so hard to wrap her head around the fact that someone both she and Bj knew was the one to stab him in the back, it made her more furious than ever before. 

Marie rubbed her eyes and head with her hands, trying to relieve her growing headache. She heard the floorboards behind her creak as a large hand came down on her shoulder with a gentle touch, and lean her so her weight was upon his own body. 

“We don’t have hard facts yet, Marie. For all we know, it could be someone else,” Stein said in a soft voice. Marie only nodded. She let go of the breath she was holding onto so tightly inside. And when she did, her confliction grew, as she answered the question Stein had previously asked.

“Justin never showed up for questioning on the day Joe died.” 

\--

“It’s been a rough week hasn’t it?” The fire in front of him made a variety of popping noises as it burned the wood in it.

“Rough is an understatement if we are to be completely honest here,” Marie could feel the vibrations from Steins chuckle as she leaned in closer to him, a small smile creeping onto her face as well. They both rested on a log in front of a little fire they made; Steins arm wrapped around Marie’s body as she rested herself upon his torso.

It certainly has been a rough week. For the both of them. Stein being accused of murder and Marie losing one of her best friends. Yet it could’ve been worse without him by her side and her by his own. Funny how the insane mad scientist was the one to keep her sane throughout the whole ordeal, but now it was coming to a close. 

Before they left Merissa’s house, she was able to trace the soul responsible for B.J’s death and found it to be on a course back to Death City. Now Marie and Stein were travelling back to intercept the rogue soul before it could cause any more grieving within the city. Only then would the truth come out about whether Justin was innocent or not, but not before they rested for the night. So here they were, the most peaceful night Marie had had in such a long time. It almost felt like a dream to her. It felt like she could breathe again. 

Marie looked up into the night sky, where twinkling stars lit up against the black shades of the universe. Despite everything, those stars rose up during the night - every night - and that was something truly beautiful. 

“I can see the Big Dipper,” Marie claimed. Stein looked at her than looked up as well.

“As can I,” he replied. Marie’s smile widen.

“It’s beautiful,” She said.

“It’s just a bunch of stars.”

“Well yeah, but they shine so bright and glisten in a way that you won’t find anything like it anywhere else, that’s why they are beautiful.”

“If that is your logic on what is beautiful than you are much more beautiful than those stars, Marie,” Marie couldn’t help but feel her whole body heat up as she tilted her head down a little and locked eyes with her partner. His deep green eyes, always filled with fatigue, seem to be alive for once.

“Marie?” She could feel her heart start to beat quicker and quicker as she heard him say her name.

“Yes?” She replied with a warmth to her voice.

“May I kiss you?” 

Marie only looked up in shock at Stein, her golden iris glistening from the moonlight. They remained that way for a few seconds before Stein rubbed the back of his neck and he turned away for a brief moment.

“Forgive me that was…” But before Stein could finish, Marie brushed her lips against his, holding his jaw with both of her hands. The warmth she gave off sent shivers down his spine.

“Of course,” she whispered into his ear, inviting him in to the deepest parts of her soul.

Stein slid his hands down Marie’s sides and planted them on her hips in response to her invitation. He slowly closed his eyes and kissed her in a way that sent sparks flying. They broke away, revelling only briefly in the emotional rush they just shared before crashing into each other once more; acting more needy than the last. 

The electricity they gave off shone brighter than any star, and that was something truly beautiful.


	5. Epilogue

It was a windy day that day. Hey eyes stung from the constant tidal waves of sand blowing into her face, but she did not care. She was too focused on what was about to happen. A confrontation she never expected she’d have to experience in her lifetime. 

She was not scared. She was not happy, nor sad, but instead livid. She could hear her heart pounding inside her body, as her body tensed each step she took towards the monster she use to call friend. 

“He’s just up ahead,” her partner spoke. She turned to look at him to see how he was, only to be greeted with a blank face that looked only forward. So she turned forward as well.

As they grew closer and closer towards the cliff’s edge, she could feel vibrations begin to enter her body from the ground below. A loud bass encompassed her ears. The sound only made her body tense even more, as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She started to move faster, her need to let go of all she has been holding in, out, surpassing all her judgement of caution. 

But her partner did not let her go to do just that, not yet at least, and instead stopped her. His touch made her relax, but only slightly.

“Are you ready, Marie?” he asked her. Marie nodded in reply, her current expression shadowed by the hood that covered it. Despite the acknowledgement, Stein didn’t let her go just yet. 

“Are you sure?” He asked again. This time Marie lifted her head, revealing a painful look on her face. The breath she took in was shaky. 

“I won’t let him take anything else away. Never again,” Stein stared into her eye, her deep golden iris, full or rage and pain, then looked away. 

“Let’s go.”

And up the cliff they went, till they hit the edge, and found Bj’s killer, down below. Marie cracked her neck as the two partners finally announced their presence. 

“We’ve found you…” the killer turned around-

“Justin.” 

-and grinned.


End file.
